There is always a purpose to what is happening around us… and even more so with what we read in God’s Word. As we continue through the various accounts of the kings of both Israel and Judah – it can be easy to see them as pointless details and historical records, but that is far from the truth. In order to see some of that truth – let’s recap a bit.

Due to sin, the original nation of Israel (firmly established under King David and prospered under King Solomon) quickly descended into civil war – ending up with a divided nation… Israel to the north and Judah to the south. From then on we start to read of the acts of the various kings from both parts (Israel and Judah) in a sort of intertwined mixture. Israel would never have a king who would obey the Lord God and walk in His ways (hence why they would eventually be destroyed first) – yet Judah would occasionally have a king who would seek to reform the policies and people back to the ways of Jehovah God.

If you remember, back in 2 Kings 8 – we are told of a unique alliance between Joram (the King of northern Israel) and Jehoshaphat (king of southern Judah). Joram was the son of the evil Israelite king Ahab and his evil wife Jezebel In 2 Kings 8:16-17 we are told that Jehoshaphat (being an old man) has his son, Jehoram, begin to reign alongside of him on the throne of Judah. Then notice a tiny detail we are told regarding Jehoram:

“He walked in the ways of the kings of Israel, as did the house of Ahab, for [Athaliah] the daughter of Ahab was his wife. He did evil in the sight of the Lord.” – 2 Kings 8:18 AMP

Did you see it? During the unique alliance between Joram (of Israel) and Jehoshaphat (of Judah) – in order to strengthen their alliance, Jehoshaphat married his son off to Joram’s sister, Athaliah, (the daughter of evil Ahab and Jezebel). Although this can quickly start to sound like a modern day soap-opera… in reality it is further signs of Satan at work.

As we have already read – after Jehoram dies… his son Ahaziah begins to reign over Judah (2 Kings 8:25). (This is the seed of Jehoram and Athaliah – the grandson of Ahab & Jezebel). Next, we see that Ahaziah (king of Judah) gets caught in the assassination plot of Joram (king of Israel) and is himself killed as well. (2 Kings 9:27).

Confused yet?

Well – from there we read that Athaliah (Ahaziah’s mother – widow of Jehoram – daughter of Ahab and Jezabel) is still alive and, when she learns of her son’s untimely demise… seeks to grab the throne of Judah for herself by having all of her children/grandchildren destroyed (2 Kings 11).

That was Satan’s plan… worked out through the initial alliance between Joram and Jehoshaphat.

You see – Satan remembers the promise God has spoken in Genesis 3:15 – that a Seed of the woman would eventually be born who would destroy the work of Satan. So the devil has been watching all these years for that Seed to come forth… he doesn’t know where or when… but he knows it will eventually happen because God said so. In his effort to thwart that promise (as he always does), Satan has been working overtime to destroy any Seed he can. Satan has heard God’s promises to David – that his seed will be established forever (2 Sam 7:12-16) – and so he knows that the Seed will eventually come through the southern kingdom of Judah… which God is also sustaining (2 Kings 8:19).

So the marriage between Jehoram, king of Judah, and Athaliah, daughter of Jezebel, was part of Satan’s design to introduce idolatry into Judah, so that Athaliah might do for Judah what Jezebel did for Israel. This plan worked both morally and politically – as Judah quickly fell into sin along with her northern sister Israel. The results of this is Athaliah (after the death of her son) destroying her entire lineage in an effort to secure the throne of Judah for herself.

But God’s plan always works. What Athaliah did not realize is that she missed one small infant grandson – Joash. He would be hidden and reared up in secret as the last remaining descendant in the lineage of the eventual Messiah – the Seed of the Woman whom Satan feared so much!

God’s Word will always come to pass… despite the evil schemes of the devil.

Be Fruitful & Multiply,

PK